Container closure



April 8, 1941. c E 2,237,479

CONTAINER CLOSURE Filed NOV. 5, 1938 2 Shee1is-Sheet l April 8, 1941. C DALE 2,237,479

CONTAINER CLO SURE Filed Nov. 5, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 5/ M U Z5 Z0 INVENTOR fig @4272 A Daz' BY am Q4 07 ATTT NE Patented Apr. 8, 1941 CONTAINER CLOSURE Colin B. Dale, Oak Park, 111., assignor to Wilson & Bennett Manufacturing Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application November 5, 1938. Serial No. 238,941

(or. zen-s1) Claims.

Full open head barrels, drums, and other containers are commonly provided with adjustable rings for clamping the covers securely in position so that when a gasket is provided a substantially liquid-proof or hermetical joint is made. This invention relates to containers provided with such rings and is particularly directed to the means for actuating the ring whereby it may be held in a plurality of closed positions and also held in extended or open position for applying and removing the ring from the container.

The objects of the invention are to provide improved closure means for a container; to provide a container having a cover and gasket and having an improved closing ring adapted to hold the cover on the container without compressing the gasket as for shipping purposes, when the container is empty, and also for entirely closing the ring to fasten the cover and compress the gasket, the actuating means also being formed so that the ring may be forced open and also held in open position as for removing the same from the container and applying it thereto; to provide a closing ring of the character set'forth having an improved'catch for holding it in closed position; and to provide such other improvements in construction and advantages inoperation as will appear more fully from the following description.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating this invention,

Fig. 1 isan enlarged detail view of a portion of the container showing the ring in closed position;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing the ring in position for holding the cover without compressing the gasket, that is, fastened in partially closed position;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 f Fig. 3;

. Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on 55 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a sectional viewof a complete container looking up toward the closing ring;

Fig. 7 is a detail side view showing the ring in the line .open position .as for applying the same;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. 7; v

Fig. 9 is a detail showing the closing lever and links in intermediate position as for changing the pivotal points; and

Figs. 10 and 11 are details of the lever clamp or fastening means.

.The barrel or container I2 may be of any usual or preferred form and is provided with a top bead l3. The cover H has a flange I5 that extends over the bead and a gasket I6 is provided for making a tight closure. The closing ring I! is of suitable shape to draw the cover to closed position and for this-purpose is preferably of the split contractible channel shaped ty'pe commonly used for this purpose.

A pad or bracket I8 is secured to the ring adjacent to one end thereof by being welded thereto and preferably terminates at the upper edge substantially in line with the upper surface of the ring so that there are no projections to interfere with stacking. The bracket is curved to fit the outer periphery of the ring as shown in Fig. 5 and extends downwardly adjacent to the outer wall of the barrel and its lower portion is folded back to provide a substantial bearing l9 at right angles to the barrel. A closing lever 20 is pivoted at one end to the bearing l9 by means of pivot 2|. This lever is preferably formed of sheet metal of concavo-convex'cross section with end portions 22 arranged parallel to receive the pivot 2| as shown. The lever is curved to conform to the outer periphery of the barrel and its outer or free end 23 is spread or flattened to provide a substantial hand piece for engagement by the hand for forcing the lever to closed position. The end 23 has a slot 24 which is engaged by a catch 25 secured to the ring as shown in Figs. 10 and 11, when the lever is in closed position. A latch 26 is pivotally connected at 21 to the flattened or broad end of the lever and such connection is sufficiently tight so that the latch will remain in any adjusted position. It is limited in its movement in one direction by a lug or projection 28 on the handle and is limited in its movement in the opposite direction by a bent corner or projection 29 which is engaged by the correspondingly bent end 30 of the latch. Holes 3| and 32 are provided in the latch and lever respectively for engagement by a seal or the like 33. The latch is notched as shown at 34 and such notched portion engages with a slot 35 in the catch 25 when the latch is moved to fastening position. The mounting of the latch is such that it is at all times fully protected by the broadened end of the lever and is in convenient position for fastening the lever when the cover is to be held in fastened or sealed position.

Another pad or bracket 36, similar to the bracket I8, is secured to the opposite end of the ring as by welding and extends a short distance beyond the end as shown in Fig. 1, sothat it over laps the other end of the ring when in closed position. This bracket also extends downwardly and has an outwardly extending flange or bearing 31 which is in alignment with the bearing IS. A link 38 preferably formed of two arms is pivotally connected at 39 with the lever 20 at a short distance from the pivot 2|. The two branches of the link straddle the closing lever 20 and the bearing or flange l9 has a recess 40 to receive the pivot 39 when in closed position.

The opposite end of the link 8| is pivotally connected at 4| with a short link 42 which is also formed of two bars and their opposite ends are connected by a pivot 43 that extends through a slot 44 in the flange or hearing 31. v

The flange or bearing 31 has a notch or recess 45 in one end which is engaged by the pin or rivet 4| when the closing lever and link 38 are swung to opening position as shown in Fig. 8. It will be noted that the slot 44 is suillciently long to permit the pin 4| to seat in the recess in this position and the recess is sufllciently deep so that there is little or no possibility of ,the pin becoming disengaged or springing out when the ring is being opened or held in such opened position. This provides convenient means for forcing the ends of the ring apart when the ring is to be fully opened as for removing it from the barrel as these rings are apt to stick after they have been in place for some time. It also furnishes convenient means for the operator to grasp the opening lever and the link to hold the ring in such fully opened position in order to place it on the barrel.

When the ring is to be partially closed as for holding the cover when the empty barrels are being shipped so that the gaskets will not be unduly compressed, the links are permitted to remain in the same position as shown in Fig. 8 and the handle 20 swung to closing position, which causes the pin or rivet 43 to engage with the outer end of the slot 44 and the closing movement causes the pin to pull at this point and partially close the ring as shown in Fig. 3.

When it is desired to contract the ring to complete closing position as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the link 42 is swung over with respect to the bearing 31 so that the pin 4| will engage with a notch or recess 46 in the end of the bearing 31 opposite to the notch 45. This notch is also of sufiicient depth to prevent any accidental displacement of the pin and the slot 44 is sufficiently long to permit the pin to fully seat in the notch 46. When the link 42 has been adjusted to such closing position the lever 20 is swung to closing position and the ends of the ring will be drawn together, which closing movement tends to force the end of the ring adjacent to the bracket IB under the bracket 36 so that both ends of the ring will be fully drawn in toward the center of the barrel or toward the head and thus make a complete pressure around the entire periphery of the cover. When the ring has thus been closed substantially all of the operating parts are disposed beneath the ring and flange so that they are fully protected and'the drum will have no objectionable projections to interfere with the handling or storage of the same.

While I have shown and described a preferred form of the invention it will be noted that changes may be made in the details of construction or in the arrangement and forms of the parts in order to adapt the ring to different containers and therefore I do not wish to be limited to the particular form shown and described except as specified in the following claims, in which I claim:

1. The combination with a container having a bead and detachable cover extending over the bead, of a contractible closing ring for holding the cover in position, said ring having a bearing adjacent one end, a closing lever pivotally connected with said bearing for swinging outwardly. a bearing adjacent the opposite end of the ring, ,a link pivotally connected with the lever adjacent its bearing, a pin at the opposite end 01. said link, a second link connected with said pin, a pin at the opposite end of the second-named link which engages with a slot in the second-named bearing, said bearing having notches in either end thereof for receiving the first-named pin for actuating the ring as herein described.

2. The combination with a container having an outwardly projecting flange at the top, of a cover extending over the flange, a split contractible channeled closing ring for engagement with the cover and flange for fastening the cover, a bracket secured to one end of the ring, a closing lever having one end pivotally connected to the bracket, a link having one end pivotally connected with the lever, a pivot at the free end of the link, a second link engaging with said pivot, a bracket secured to the opposite end of the ring and having a substantially radial slot therein, a pin secured to the free end of the second-named link and engaging with said slot, said bracket having seats at either end thereof adjacent tothe slot for receiving the pivot at the end of the first-named link, the arrangement being such that the second-named link will guide the pivot to engage with either of said seats and also forms a closing connection between the closing lever and the opposite end of the ring.

3. A contractible closing ring for a container, having a bearing adjacent one end thereof, a closing lever pivoted at one end to said bearing, a projection at the opposite end of the ring having a plurality of pin engaging seats which are spaced apart circumferentially, a link, a pin in one end of the link slidably connected with the projection, a second pi-n at the other end of said link, and a link connecting the last-named pin with the closing lever, the arrangement being such that the first-named pin may be moved to engage with one of said seats for closing the ring to one circumferential size and the second-named pin may be moved to engage the other seat to close the ring to a different circumferential size.

4. The combination with a split contractible channeled closing ring, of a bracket secured to one end thereof and having a downwardly extending portion provided with an outwardly extending flange, a closing lever pivoted to said flange, a link having one end pivotally connected with the lever, a bracket secured to the opposite end of the ring and having a downwardly extending portion provided with an outwardly extending flange, said flange having a substantially circumferential slot therein and having recesses in either end thereof, a link having one end slidably connected with the slot and having a pivot at the opposite end engaging with the end of the first-named link, said pivot being adapted to be swung to engage with the recesses in either end of the last-named flange for actuating the ring,

said closing lever and links also serving to draw the ring to partially closed position through the engagement of the second-named link with the slot. 5. A device as per claim 2 in which the second named bracket overlaps the opposite end of the ring.

COLIN B. DALE. 

